Move to iOS helps Android users migrate to iOS without fuss

Move to iOS helps Android users migrate to iOS without fuss
Yes, it includes transferring your WhatsApp chat history as well.
PHOTO: Google Play

Android users can now have an easier time of it switching from their Android handsets to a spanking new iPhone. At least from my experience, people these days don’t really have as bad a time with things like images and videos now that there are various options to save to the cloud or to their computer, so the biggest culprit in migration woes, regardless of which way you’re migrating, has always been WhatsApp.

Android users already have a tool for iPhone users moving over to Android for some time, and now that WhatsApp has now made it possible to transfer chat history from Android to iOS, transferring to and fro without jumping through (too many) hoops is now a reality.

As such, Apple now has a new app to facilitate transfers to their side of the green. Move to iOS is now available on the Google Play store and will help to transfer the following:

  • Contacts
  • Message history
  • Camera photos and videos
  • Photo albums
  • Files and folders
  • Accessibility settings
  • Display settings
  • Web bookmarks
  • Mail accounts
  • WhatsApp messages and media
  • Calendars

Some free apps that are available on both the App Store and Google Play will also be transferred. However, in spite of this, never take it as a given that your transfers will always be smooth sailing.

Call me a cynical old fart but always make it good practice to do a complete backup of your Android phone data and always expect something to fail. When you consider the multitude of Android phones out there, sporting different versions of the core OS customised for their respective phone manufacturers’ purposes, it’s no wonder that it has always been a pain in the ass and (I’m sure) will continue to be, to some degree. This applies to data transfers both ways.

Some good habits:

  • Always assume that something will go wrong and have a backup of your old phone that you can restore from when murphy’s law (inevitably) kicks in
  • Always set aside half a day for said transfer, taking into account that you will not be able to use your phone during that period
  • Charge the battery for both phones… and keep them plugged into the charger anyway
  • Ensure that you have enough storage space on your new iOS device
  • Ensure that the apps on your old phone are updated
  • If you’re transferring data it doesn’t look as if anything is happening, quickly… wait a while longer. It always helps to think that it takes a few hours longer than you’d think it’d be.

And the most important tip of all – and it sounds utterly counter-intuitive given this app is supposed to simplify things: if the data is particularly important to you, then take the time to back up the most critical stuff (separately), be it photos, browser bookmarks, etc individually before you make the big jump.

It’s tedious but given how migration – Android to iOS and iOS to Android – is inherently a flaky process, you either accept that some stuff may not make it through unscathed or you go to the ends of the earth to preserve what you have. Good luck.

ALSO READ: Switch to Android app now supports all phones with Android 12 OS

This article was first published in Potions.sg.

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